How do you make the fourth entry in a 24-year-old series about zombies fresh and terrifying?
It is the greatest challenge any ongoing horror franchise that refuses to die faces. Fortunately, zombie films have rarely been about the flesh-eating dead, instead a fantastical starting point to explore political and societal themes – thanks George A. Romero. Sure, the speedy, rage filled, bloodthirsty humanoids of the 28 series are a terrifying concept, but we can eventually become desensitised. This part four wisely explores the unspeakable things humans do to each other, which can often be more devastating than any carnage a zombie can create.
Picking up shortly after 28 Years Later left off, young Spike (Alfie Williams) is now involved, against his will, with a cult of young Satanists, each named Jimmy, led by the terrifying Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Spike’s options are limited and none are great – roam with the psychotic nomads or end up their prey. Or try to escape and if successful, go out on his own and try to avoid rage-filled zombies. The group go from town-to-town torturing and killing innocent plague survivors on their search for Old Nick, and there is no one they will not harm, not even a pregnant woman. Meanwhile, Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) continues to live among the zombies, covered in Iodine to avoid detection. An encounter with the imposing alpha zombie Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry) puts Dr Kelson on the verge of discovering a cure for the rage plague – until the Jimmies cross his path.
The 28 series is less about surviving the zombies and more about surviving each other – and considering the current climate of world events, really which is more terrifying? As The Bone Temple demonstrates, what humans do to each other without the presence of a medical infection to blame is just as horrifying as what the zombies are doing. Though scripted by series regular Alex Garland, the directing reigns have been handed to Nia DaCosta, who adeptly handles shifts in tone, which is one of the joys of this scare-fest. This time around we lean slightly more into dry humour, which is a welcome relief after some of the more skin-crawling tense sequences early on. While it is not overtly graphic, the suggestion and after-math are stomach-churning enough. DaCosta knows how to satiate gorehounds but shows remarkable restraint to not end up in torture porn territory. We are also treated to much-needed humanity among the depravity.
Fiennes is reliably fantastic in some wonderful character moments, but it is O’Connell who really pops with his chillingly calm and scarily patient demeanor. When these representations of good and evil come face to face in an intense conversational scene, the underlying threat is palpable. There is no full stop at the end of The Bone Temple, with a sequence that suggests there is more story to cover. This would be a part five that would be particularly welcome.
8 out of 10
